Patent Issued for Smart ring for financial transactions (USPTO 11860988): United Services Automobile Association

2024 JAN 22 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- A patent by the inventors Baker, Kelly Q. (San Antonio, TX, US), Buentello, Andre Rene (San Antonio, TX, US), Croak, Michelle Susan (Chicago, IL, US), Culbertson, II, William Preston (Plant City, FL, US), Guerra, Oscar (San Antonio, TX, US), Hansen, Gregory David (San Antonio, TX, US), Huggar, Stacy Callaway (San Antonio, TX, US), Maestas, Jerry John (Trophy Club, TX, US), Maldonado, Ana (San Antonio, TX, US), Maney, Jr., Will Kerns (San Antonio, TX, US), Meyer, Gregory Brian (San Antonio, TX, US), Romero, Jr., Jose L. (San Antonio, TX, US), filed on August 28, 2020, was published online on January 2, 2024, according to news reporting originating from Alexandria, Virginia, by NewsRx correspondents.

Patent number 11860988 is assigned to United Services Automobile Association (San Antonio, Texas, United States).

The following quote was obtained by the news editors from the background information supplied by the inventors: “The present embodiments related to electronic financial transactions in general, and more particularly, to methods and systems for authenticating a user for electronic financial transactions.

“Electronic payments are moving away from conventional magnetic stripe cards, such as credit cards or debit cards, to a variety of different contactless or near-field-communication (NFC) enabled devices. These contactless or NFC-enabled devices use short distance communications between the NFC-enabled device and a point-of-sale (POS) terminal or other similar payment receiving device that are physically separated to authenticate an electronic financial transaction. However, the availability of personal and financial information on these NFC-enabled devices makes them a target for being stolen or hacked, allowing a criminal to make purchases that are charged to the owner of the stolen or hacked device.

“Accordingly, many NFC-enabled device owners may be hesitant to use their device to its fullest capabilities. Additionally, some merchants may be reluctant to accept these types of electronic financial transactions out of concerns that they may not be legitimate. There is a need in the art for a system and method that addresses these shortcomings discussed above.”

In addition to the background information obtained for this patent, NewsRx journalists also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent: “In one aspect, a method for a one-time authentication interaction to conduct electronic financial transactions is provided. The method includes detecting, by a mobile device, that a wearable smart ring device is being worn by a user. The method also includes receiving, by the mobile device, authentication information associated with the user, and comparing, by the mobile device, the received authentication information with stored authentication information associated with the user. Upon determining that the received authentication information matches the stored authentication information, the method includes authenticating the wearable smart ring device to conduct electronic financial transactions.

“In another aspect, a method for conducting electronic financial transactions using a wearable smart ring device is provided. The method includes receiving, by a mobile device, authentication information associated with a user of a wearable smart ring device in communication with the wearable smart ring device. The method also includes authenticating, by the mobile device, the wearable smart ring device for conducting electronic financial transactions. The method further includes using the wearable smart ring device to conduct one or more electronic financial transactions, wherein the wearable smart ring device remains authenticated for conducting subsequent electronic financial transactions until the wearable smart ring device is removed from a finger of the user.

“In another aspect, a system for conducting electronic financial transactions using a wearable smart ring device is provided. The system includes a wearable smart ring device including at least one of a near-field communication (NFC) sensor or a radio frequency identification (RFID) sensor and a short-range communication sensor. The system also includes a mobile device including a communication module configured to permit the mobile device to communicate with the short-range communication sensor of the wearable device. The mobile device is configured to receive authentication information associated with a user of the wearable smart ring device to authenticate the wearable smart ring device for conducting electronic financial transactions. The wearable smart ring device remains authenticated for conducting subsequent electronic financial transactions until the wearable smart ring device is removed from a finger of the user.

“Other systems, methods, features and advantages of the invention will be, or will become, apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art upon examination of the following figures and detailed description. It is intended that all such additional systems, methods, features and advantages be included within this description and this summary, be within the scope of the invention, and be protected by the following claims.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“1. A method for a one-time authentication interaction to conduct electronic financial transactions, the method comprising: performing an initial pairing between a mobile device and a wearable smart ring device using a short-range wireless communication technology; during a subsequent interaction after the initial pairing, detecting, by the mobile device, that the wearable smart ring device is being worn by a user; in response to detecting that the wearable smart ring device is being worn by the user, displaying an authentication option message on a display of the mobile device to provide the user with ability to authenticate the wearable smart ring device for conducting electronic financial transactions; upon receiving, by the mobile device, a selection to decline the authentication option, permitting functionalities of the wearable smart ring device without the ability to conduct electronic financial transactions; upon receiving, by the mobile device, a selection of the authentication option, receiving, by the mobile device, authentication information associated with the user; comparing, by the mobile device, the received authentication information with stored authentication information associated with the user; upon determining that the received authentication information matches the stored authentication information, authenticating the wearable smart ring device to conduct electronic financial transactions; upon initiating an electronic financial transaction at a payment terminal using the wearable smart ring device, using another wearable device in the form of a smart watch worn by the user to confirm that the user intends to conduct the electronic financial transaction using the wearable smart ring device; and upon detecting, by at least one biometric sensor of the wearable smart ring device, that the wearable smart ring device is removed from the finger of the user, de-authenticating the wearable smart ring device from conducting any electronic financial transactions.

“2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the authentication information associated with the user includes stored biometric information associated with the user; and wherein the stored biometric information associated with the user is saved on the wearable smart ring device.

“3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the at least one biometric sensor of the wearable smart ring device includes a light sensitive or photocell sensor; and wherein the light sensitive or photocell sensor detects when the wearable smart ring device is removed from the finger of the user.

“4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the mobile device includes a camera; and wherein the authentication information associated with the user is received by the mobile device from the camera.

“5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the wearable smart ring device remains authorized to conduct electronic financial transactions until taken off by the user.

“6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the authentication information includes at least two forms of authentication.

“7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the wearable smart ring device includes at least one of an accelerometer or a force sensor; and wherein the authentication information includes a gesture-based authentication recognized by the at least one of an accelerometer or a force sensor.

“8. A method for conducting electronic financial transactions using a wearable smart ring device, the method comprising: performing an initial pairing between a mobile device and the wearable smart ring device using a short-range wireless communication technology; during a subsequent interaction after the initial pairing, detecting, by the mobile device, that the wearable smart ring device is being worn by a user; in response to detecting that the wearable smart ring device is being worn by the user, displaying an authentication option message on a display of the mobile device to provide the user with ability to authenticate the wearable smart ring device for conducting electronic financial transactions; upon receiving, by the mobile device, a selection to decline the authentication option, permitting functionalities of the wearable smart ring device without the ability to conduct electronic financial transactions; upon receiving, by the mobile device, a selection of the authentication option, receiving, by the mobile device in communication with the wearable smart ring device, authentication information associated with a user of the wearable smart ring device; upon determining that the received authentication information matches stored authentication information for the user, authenticating, by the mobile device, the wearable smart ring device for conducting electronic financial transactions; using the wearable smart ring device to conduct one or more electronic financial transactions at one or more payment terminals, wherein the wearable smart ring device remains authenticated for conducting subsequent electronic financial transactions until the wearable smart ring device is de-authenticated by being removed from the finger of the user; upon initiating an electronic financial transaction at a payment terminal using the wearable smart ring device, using another wearable device in the form of a smart watch worn by the user to confirm that the user intends to conduct the electronic financial transaction using the wearable smart ring device; and wherein determining that the wearable smart ring device is removed from the finger of the user comprises: detecting, using at least one biometric sensor disposed on a portion of an inside surface of the wearable smart ring device, that the wearable smart ring device has been removed from the finger of the user.

“9. The method according to claim 8, wherein the authentication information includes biometric information associated with the user.

“10. The method according to claim 8, wherein the authentication information includes at least two forms of authentication.

“11. The method according to claim 8, wherein the authentication information includes facial recognition using a camera of the mobile device.

“12. The method according to claim 8, further comprising: upon initiating the electronic financial transaction at the payment terminal, performing a confirmation gesture with the wearable smart ring device to affirm the electronic financial transaction.

“13. The method according to claim 12, wherein the confirmation gesture is sensed using at least one of an accelerometer or a force sensor of the wearable smart ring device.

“14. The method according to claim 8, wherein the at least one biometric sensor of the wearable smart ring device includes a light sensitive or photocell sensor configured to detect when the wearable smart ring device is taken off the finger of the user.

“15. The method according to claim 8, further comprising using the mobile device in communication with the wearable smart ring device to confirm the electronic financial transaction.

“16. A system for conducting electronic financial transactions using a wearable smart ring device, the system comprising: a wearable smart ring device including at least one of a near-field communication (NFC) sensor or a radio frequency identification (RFID) sensor, a short-range communication sensor, and at least one biometric sensor, the at least one biometric sensor being disposed on an inside surface of the wearable smart ring device; a mobile device including a communication module configured to permit the mobile device to communicate with the short-range communication sensor of the wearable smart ring device; and another wearable device in the form of a smart watch worn by the user; wherein the mobile device is configured to: perform an initial pairing between the mobile device and the wearable smart ring device using a short-range wireless communication technology; during a subsequent interaction after the initial pairing, detect that the wearable smart ring device is being worn by a user; in response to detecting that the wearable smart ring device is being worn by the user, display an authentication option message on a display of the mobile device to provide the user with ability to authenticate the wearable smart ring device for conducting electronic financial transactions; upon receiving a selection to decline the authentication option, permit functionalities of the wearable smart ring device without the ability to conduct electronic financial transactions; upon receiving a selection of the authentication option, receive authentication information associated with the user of the wearable smart ring device to authenticate the wearable smart ring device for conducting electronic financial transactions at one or more payment terminals; and wherein, upon initiating an electronic financial transaction at a payment terminal using the wearable smart ring device, the smart watch worn by the user is configured to confirm that the user intends to conduct the electronic financial transaction using the wearable smart ring device; wherein the wearable smart ring device remains authenticated for conducting subsequent electronic financial transactions until the wearable smart ring device is de-authenticated by using the at least one biometric sensor to detect that the wearable smart ring device has been removed from the finger of the user.”

There are additional claims. Please visit full patent to read further.

URL and more information on this patent, see: Baker, Kelly Q. Smart ring for financial transactions. U.S. Patent Number 11860988, filed August 28, 2020, and published online on January 2, 2024. Patent URL (for desktop use only): https://ppubs.uspto.gov/pubwebapp/external.html?q=(11860988)&db=USPAT&type=ids

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